US Official Dismisses Criticism of Venezuela Oil Deal
Tom Phillips
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright rejected claims that Washington aims to seize Venezuela's oil, framing the recent deal as a historic shift in bilateral relations. Critics, however, describe the agreement as coercive diplomacy, while the White House touts it as a strategy to counter Chinese and Russian influence.
On the evening of September 2 (local time), US Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Caracas, four days after President Donald Trump announced what he called "the biggest oil deal in world history." In an interview with CNBC, Wright rejected accusations that the US is trying to seize Venezuela's 65 billion barrels of oil, emphasizing that the agreement represents a "historic transformation" for both nations.
"I think we're witnessing the complete, historic transformation of Venezuela as well as the relationship between Venezuela and the US," Wright said. "This is President Trump's grand plan to replace conflict with commerce."
The White House stated that the deal will ensure "US energy dominance for the next century" and eliminate Chinese and Russian influence over oil fields in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves. However, the agreement has drawn criticism from various quarters in US politics.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board likened the deal to a scene from "The Godfather Part II" rather than a normal commercial transaction, with the US "essentially shaking hands with a foreign dictator and her favorite capitalist," referring to Venezuelan billionaire Alejandro Betancourt, who is at the center of the agreement.
Economist Francisco Rodríguez criticized it bluntly on Democracy Now: "Clearly, this is not an agreement any Venezuelan government would accept unless the country were invaded and its leaders had guns pointed at their heads. I think we've replaced gunboat diplomacy with guns-to-the-head diplomacy."
Delcy Rodríguez, appointed interim president of Venezuela on January 5, two days after President Nicolás Maduro was captured by US special forces in a dawn raid in Caracas, has made unprecedented concessions to US officials. Rodríguez, previously Maduro's vice president, is said to have been warned by Trump that she would face a worse fate if she did not comply with US policy.
Since Maduro's capture, Rodríguez has made a series of unprecedented concessions to US officials—whom her socialist political movement once condemned as predatory imperialists seeking to steal Venezuela's natural resources. On August 30, she called the oil deal a benefit of "endless" value, saying it would generate over $209 billion in revenue to improve healthcare and education. "We are thinking about Venezuela's future," she said in a televised address.
The deal is seen as a heavy blow to Venezuela's political opposition, who fear Trump will not push for democratic transition or new presidential elections given the lucrative arrangement with Rodríguez. "This is a game between the Trump administration and Delcy and her people," one opposition figure lamented after the deal was announced.
